The plan was to trundle across to the Caravan Club Listed site on Friday evening and sneak up on Martin in his narrowboat and scare the life out of him. The best laid plans and all that .....Martin was late back to the marina and had moored along the canal and finding a particular narrowboat in amongst hundreds of others in the pitch black meant that the plan failed.
The site is in a very large field and there were just the other two caravans already there. Hooking up the EHU was a challenge as the cable had to be thrown through a hedge, but we set up in minutes and then headed for the pub for a couple of well-earned pints and a decent scoff. Martin managed to join us for a pint of hobgoblin and a fat-boy dessert.
The next morning I was up early and walked to the village to buy some bread, bacon and the papers for a leisurely morning's relaxation. Bimbling along the towpath I found Martin busily taking on water and emptying his toilet cassette, mostly over himself. Hitching a ride on "Mr Bunbury", we returned to the mooring and I, once again, cooked breakfast, made the bed and tidied the bus whilst 'er indoors titivated herself. Martin's very good friend Malcolm then arrived for his weekend cruising on Mr Bunbury, so we hitched a lift for 4 miles or so along the canal. However, Martin's idea of going for a cruise is to make his passengers walk alongside and kill themselves operating the many locks whilst he putt-putts along taking it easy.
Walking back along the towpath we stopped in Braunston for a pint and to check if they were showing the rugby in any of the pubs. Unfortunately, the locals were more interested in darts than a decent sport so, as the mobile reception is so appallingly bad in these backwaters, we had to stand outside and await the result of our glorious win over Gloucester in the Heineken Cup. 12 wins from 12 games is very impressive by anyone's standards.
The temperature dropped quite considerably overnight and it was dank and foggy - one of those chill, yucky November nights that get into your bones. However, the bus was snug and warm, albeit it did take longer to heat than on previous trip. Knackered after all the exertions, we tucked up early and enjoyed a thoroughly good nights kip.
Sunday, and with mischief on my mind, I unloaded the bike and cycled the 4.5 miles back along the towpath, found Mr Bumburglar moored by the pub, jumped on the gunwhale to give it a damned good rocking, enjoyed the shouts from inside and rode off again.Tee hee :O)
Sunday papers, sausage sarnies and a few mugs of steaming hot tea, followed by a leg stretch around the marina and through the village, completed our Sunday and we packed up and were home in very good time.
The campsite - nice location, nice field, but at £15 a night, very expensive for what it is, especially as the toilets are miles away and they want a £1 for a shower! Likewise, the electricity supply aint up to much and tripped twice whilst we were there. Probably won't be going back there again.
Midweek saw a change of plan for the coming weekend (Families eh? Who'd have 'em). Resigned to a weekend confined to home, Debs had the bright idea of "going local", which seemed a barking mad idea until I mentioned it at work the following day and people generally thought it a great idea. We trawled the Camping Club website for somewhere nearby, although the website was playing up with dead links and not much information. Finally we found a site at Trumpington, near the park and ride and walkable into Cambridge. After much to-ing and fro-ing on the pathetic Camping Club Site we found that the campsite has now closed for the winter and the nearby Caravan Club site at Cherry Hinton was showing fully booked. So, on Thursday night went to bed a bit depressed and not looking forward to a potentially boring weekend.
We were, however, quite impressed with the Caravan Club website, which was significantly more user friendly and useful than the Camping Club website. On the off-chance, I rang Cherry Hinton - still fully booked but they suggested I call back later. I rang at 1500hrs. They had space! Quick call to Debs telling her that we had to be on site by 1900hrs and asking what she wanted packed. In record time, the bus was home, fridge packed, clothes packed, 30 litres of water on board and fridge/freezer cooling ready for the off as soon as she got home. Luckily, she managed to get an earlier train and we left home just before 1800hrs and arrived on site in good time.
Cherry Hinton is a delightful site placed in an old chalk quarry, once used to mine Lime for the mortar for the University. It is, however, very dark and we had to get Tom onto his alloted spot in the darkness, which took a few shunts backwards and forwards as we couldn't see the hardstanding in the dark.
Once in and settled, the beer was opened, the curry heated and a relaxing evening followed.
Saturday saw us walking the 3 miles into Cambridge, pootling around the shops and spending the voucher that Debs had received from Cafe Rouge for a free bottle of Champagne. Campagne, confit de canard and a large ice cream at lunchtime were very nice, but had to be walked off, albeit we stopped at a couple of pubs on the way back, especially to celebrate yet another glorious Harlequins win against Barf! 8 miles in total meant that we were ready for cheese and biscuits and numerous cups of tea to sober up, before turning in for a good night's sleep.
Sunday I got up early and went for a walk around the local nature reserve and then picked up the Sunday papers, returning for a very relaxing Sunday morning in a warm and cosy bus. So much for the planned bike ride!
From a mad idea of going local for the weekend, the trip worked out remarkably well. It feels like we have been on holiday. We have explored parts of Cambridge we hadn't previously been and it would have cost us £10.80 to travel to Cambridge on the bus (nearly the cost of one night's camping fees). We will probably do that trip again!
